Safety razor with swingable cover for single-edge blades, with cutting-angle adjusting means, and/or with handle adjusting means



March 12, 1.963 s. A. LA cAs 3,080, 51

SAFETY RAZOR WITH SWINGABLE COVER FOR SINGLE-EDGE BLADES, WITHCUTTING-ANGLE ADJUSTING MEANS, AND/OR WITH Y HANDLE ADJUSTING MEANSFiled Dec. 22, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

A T TOE/V6 Y March 12, 1963 s. A. LA cAs 3,080,651

SAFETY RAZOR WITH SWINGABLE COVER FOR SINGLE-EDGE BLADES, WITHCUTTING-ANGLE ADJUSTING MEANS, AND/0R WITH HANDLE ADJUSTING MEANS FiledDec. 22, 1960 4 Sheets-Shee 3 INV EN TOR.

ATTOZ/VEV March 1 1963 G. A. LA CAS 3, 0, 5

SAFETY RAZOR WITH SWINGABLE COVER FOR SINGLE-EDGE BLADES, WITHCUTTING-ANGLE ADJUSTING MEANS, AND/OR WITH HANDLE ADJUSTING MEANS FiledDec. 22, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

BY W flA/MM/ZM ATTORNfY United States Patent 3,i80,651 SAFETY RAZOR WITHSWINGAIBLE COVER FOR SINGLE-EDGE BLADES, WITH CUTTING-ANGLE ADJUSTINGMEANS, AND/0R WITH HANDLE ADJUSTING MEANS George A. La Cas, Staunton,Va., assignor to Philip Morris Incorporated, New York, N.Y., acorporation of Virginia Filed Dec. 22, 1960, Ser. No. 77,737 10 Claims.(Cl. 30-61) This invention relates to safety razors, and, in certain ofits more specific aspects, to safety razors of the type usingsingle-edge blades having reinforced rear edge portions.

Among the objects of the invention are the provision of improved meansfor adjusting the shaving angle of a razor, the provision of improvedmeans for adjusting the shaving angle of a razor employing a single-edgeblade, the provision of improved means for adjusting the length of arazor handle, and the provision of improved means for operating thecover of a razor head of the type commonly used to hold a single-edgeblade having a reinforced rear edge portion.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will beexemplified in the constructions.

' hereinafter set forth'and 'the scope of the application of .which willbe indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects .of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front view, partly broken away, showing one form of razorembodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale along the line33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section along the line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the position of certainof the parts near the top of the razor with the cover open;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but showing the lower part of therazor with the handle in the adjusted position;

FIG. 6A is an exploded perspective view of the eccentrically-cooperatingsoap-bar adjusting elements;

FIG. 6B is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 6B6B of FIG. 6 on anenlarged scale;

FIG. 7 is a detail side view of the soap-bar adjusting mechanism;

FIG. 8 is a top detail view thereof;

FIG. 9 is an end detail view thereof;

FIG. 10 is a cross section through the soap bar on a greatly enlargedscale;

FIG. 11 is a rear detail view of the stem assembly;

FIG. 12 is a side view thereof;

FIG. 13 is a top view thereof;

FIG. 14 is a top view of the cover-operating spring;

FIG. 15 is a fragmentary end view of a portion of the razor head on anenlarged scale;

FIG. 16 is a partly sectional fragmentary rear view thereof;

FIG. 17 is a detail view of the finger piece; and

FIG. 18 is a bottom plan view of the seat.

In the exemplified embodiment of the invention there is provided a razor5 comprising a shaving head 6 and handle 7 connected by a stem 8 havinga central recess 9 in its upper portion, and carrying at its upper endlateral cars 10 and 11 to which a blade seat 12 is fixedly secured. Fromthe end-s of the seat there extend forwardly a pair of arms 14 carryingthe usual stops 16 providing notches 3,080,651 Patented Mar. 12, 1963 17into which the ends of the sharpened edge of a singleedge blade 18 maybe pressed. As exemplified, the blade has the usual reinforced orthickened rear portion 19 against which the upper portion of a swingablepressure finger 20 is adapted to exert forward pressure under theinfluence of a spring 21 when the razor is in shaving position, as shownin FIG. 3. As exemplified, the rear portion 19 of the blade rests onrises 21a on the seat. The blade extends slightly downwardly withrespect to the seat from the finger 20 to the stops 16. The seat isitself sloped somewhat downwardly in a forward direction with respect tothe stem 8.

The shaving head also includes a cover 22 having end pieces 23 pivotedon rearward bearings 24 on the ends of the seat, and is adapted to beswung, on the horizontal axis thus provided, from the closed or shavingposition of FIG. 3 to the open or loading position of FIG. 5, by thepressure of a spring 28. In the former position the forward edge of thecover presses downwardly on the blade 18. One end portion of the spring28 is clamped between the ears 10 and 11 and the seat 12, and the otherend portion is free and presses against a downwardly-turned rear portion29 of the cover.

The seat 12 and the spring 28 are formed, respectively, with notches 30and 31 to accommodate the finger 20, and the finger 20 has a tail 32fitting into anotch 33 in the stem between the ears 10v and 11 and isswingingly supported by end lugs 34 extending above the ears 10 and 11at the sides of the notch 33, and rotatably fitting within recesses 35in the bottom of the seat 12% well as in the notch 31.

Pursuant to the invention in certain of its aspects, there is provided aparticularly simple and effective means, in the form of a cam lever 36,for closing the cover 22 against the pressure of the spring 28. Thelever 36 fits in a recessed portion 37 in the rear of the stem 8, andispivoted at 38 on the stem. It is shaped to provide a pressure surface 39above its pivotal axis for pushing it into a position which permits thecover to open and a pressure surface 39a below its pivotal axis forpushing it so as to close the cover 22 by means of cam surfaces 40 oneither side of a recess 42 which contains the tail 32 of the finger 20as well as the spring 21 which, when the cover is in closed position,urges the tail 32 rearwardly to swing the upper end of the finger 2tforwardly against the rear edge of the blade 18. The spring 21 is sodisposed in the recess 42 that, when the lever 36 is swung to permit thecover to open, the spring 21 is moved clear of the finger 20, allowingit to swing loose so that a used blade may be replaced with a new bladein the usual manner The lever 36 is preferably made from plastic,whereas the other parts so far described are preferably formed of metal.The lever 36 carries a slightly resilient downwardly-extending forwardarm 44 the end of which is just above a rearward hump 45 in the forwardsurface of the recess 37in order to provide a slight resistance tomovement of the lever to a position in which it will permit the cover toopen, and in order to signal to the user, as by the feel of themovements or by a clicking noise, the swinging movements of the lever.

The razor is provided with a guard member or soap bar 50 which, inaccordance with the present invention in certain of its aspects, ispivoted at 51 and 52 on the arms 14 of the seat to permit the swingingof the soap bar on a horizontal axis to vary the distance between thecutting edge of the blade and a rounded surface at the top of the soapbar. The soap bar carries a rearwardly-extending operating bar 54 whichcarries at its rear end a laterallyextending pivot post 56 fitting intoa notch 58 in the forward end of an arm 59 on an operating link 60 whichcarries an arcuate lip 62 fitting into a longerrecessed eccentric in theform of a nearly-annular groove 64 man operating wheel 65 rotatablymounted in the stem 8 by means of a pin 66. The ends of the groove 64act as stops to limit the rotative movements of the wheel 65. Theperiphery of the wheel 65 is roughened by transverse grooves 67, andprojects thru a forward opening 68 in the stem 8 for operation by theusers thumb and for exposure of numerals which indicate the extent ofany adjustment made. An arrow 69 points to the indicating numeral. Aspring 70 in a recess 71 in the stem 8 is formed with a hump 72 which isadapted to fit into one or another of the grooves 67 to hold the wheelagainst accidental displacement from an adjusted position. Since theforward end of the soap bar 50 is mounted on the fixed pivots 51 and 52,upward movement of the rear end of the operating bar 54 will swing thesoap bar on those pivots from the position of FIG. 3 to the positionshown in full lines in FIG. 7, thus varying the shaving angle from theline 74 to the. line 75 of FIG. 7. The position of the operating bar 54is controlled by raising (or lowering) of the pivot portion 56, which isbrought about by raising (or lowering) -and angulating-the operatinglink 60 from the position of FIG. 3 to the position shown in full linesin FIG. 7 (or vice versa) due to the eccentricity of the groove 64 withrespect to the fixed axis 66 of rotation of the wheel 65. The lip 62,which fits into the groove and lies at all times in a minor sector ofthe eccentric circle (in a major sector of which the groove lies) willassume various vertical (and angular) positions with respect to thewheel depending on how much the wheel has been turned. Thus whenthewheel is moved from the position of FIG. 3 to the position of FIG. 7,the lip will be moved upwardly with the groove 64 as the eccentriccircle of the groove moves upwardly with respect to fixed axis 66 of thewheel, and the link 60 carrying the lip will be moved upwardly so thatthe forward end of the arm 59 on the link 60 will raise the pivot post56 on the rearward end of the operating bar 54. Accordingly, upwardmovement of the forward'side of the wheel65 from the position of FIG. 3to the position of FIG. 7 causes downward movement of the soap bar tovary the shaving angle to a desired extent between the dot-and-dashlines 74 and 75 of FIG. 7; and a reverse movement causes a reversedoperation. The various razor parts are recessed where necessary toaccommodate the link 60 in the various positions of the link 60 and ofthe other parts, the lever 36, for example, being recessed at 77 and 78,and the seat 12 at 79 to accommodate the link 60.

In accordance with the invention in certain of its aspects, the razor isprovided with a handle which is longitudinally adjustable in aparticularly simple and effective manner. To this end there is providedon the lower end of the stem 8 a slidable sheath 80 in which a bent leafspring 82 is mounted for movement therewith. The spring moves in apassageway 84 in the stern and resists free movement of the sheath onthe stem. The spring 82 is formed at 85 with a bend which is adapted tofit into one or another of recesses 86, 87, and 88 in the stem to holdthe sheath in any of three positions wherein it will provide, with thestem 8, a short handle, a handle of medium length, or a long handle, asdesired. The stem is formed at its lower end with a protuberance 90. Theextent of this protuberance into the passageway 84 and the strength ofthe spring 82 are such as to prevent passage of the bend 85 of thespring past the protuberance.

The spring 82 is formed with a base 92 having four upturned corners 93,with flats 94 therebetween. In assembly, the spring 82 is set on thestem 3 with the bend 85 in the notch 86, and the base 92 lying againstthe lower end of the stem, and the sheath 80 drawn up over them untilthe parts are in the position shown in FIG. 3.

The sheath 80 is formed of plastic, and the interior thereof is soshaped that it may be moved up over the base 92 of the spring, but thatthe bent-up corners 93 of the base will dig into the interior of thesheath sutficiently to assure that the spring will move downwardly withthe sheath when the latter is moved downwardly to increase the length ofthe handle. The base 92 thus provides assurance against the movement ofthe spring longitudinally of the sheath, and also serves, in addition toa shoulder 95 on the sheath, to provide a positive limit to the upwardmovement of the sheath on the stem 8. There is thus provided a simpleand effective construction whereby the sheath may be readily adjusted onthe stem to provide a handle of a desired length and may be effectivelyheld in adjusted position.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction andditferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. A safety razor for single-edge blades comprising a stem, 2. bladeseat carried on said stem, a cover swingably mounted on said stembetween open and closed positions and having a dependent portion at therear thereof, resilient means urging said cover into open position, anda lever pivotally mounted on said stern and formed with a rearwardly anddownwardly extending cam surface engaging said dependent portion to holdsaid cover closed when said surface is in a rearward position andmovable to a forward position out of the path of movement of saiddependent portion under the opening action of said resilient means andcammingly engaging said dependent portion when moved rearwardly formoving said cover into closed position.

2. A safety razor for single-edge blades comprising a stern; a bladeseat carried on said stem, a cover swingably mounted on said stem,resilient means urging said cover into open position, and a leverpivotally mounted on said stern for moving said cover into closedposition, wherein said lever is provided with a rear pressure surfacebelow its pivot point for swinging it in one direction to move saidcover to closed position and a rear pressure surface above its pivotpoint for swinging it in the opposite direction for permitting saidcover to be moved to open position by said resilient means.

3. A safety razor for single-edge blades comprising a stem; a blade seatcarried on said stem, a cover swingably mounted on said stem, resilientmeans urging said cover into open position, and a lever pivotallymounted on said stern for moving said cover into closed position,wherein there is provided on said lever and said stem cooperating meansin the form of a resilient arm and a hump over which the arm rides,whereby at least a portion of each of the movements of said lever isresisted.

4. A safety razor for single-edge blades comprising a stern, a bladeseat carried on said stem, a cover swingably mounted on said stem,resilient means urging said cover into open position, and a leverpivotally mounted on said stem for moving said cover into closedposition, and comprising also a finger adapted to bear against the rearedge of the blade, a recess in the top of said lever, and a spring insaid recess adapted to urge said finger against the rear edge of theblade when said lever is in cover-closing position.

5. A razor as in claim 2 wherein there is provided an adjustable soapbar, manually-operable operating means therefor disposed at a forwardportion of said stem, and an operating connection extending from saidoperating means to said soap bar.

6. A safety razor comprising a stem, a blade seat carried by said stem,a cover, an adjustable soap bar, an operating wheel rotatably mounted onsaid stem and projecting therefrom, a linkage extending from said wheelto said soap bar, and eccentric means for operating said linkage inresponse to rotative movements of said wheel and comprising an annulareccentric recess in said wheel, and a shorter annular protuberancefitting therein and carried by said linkage.

7. A razor as in claim 6 wherein said soap bar is pivotally mounted onsaid seat for movement on an axis longitudinal thereof, said linkagecomprising an element extending rearwardly from the soap bar and anelement pivotally connected to the first-mentioned element and carryingsaid shorter annular protuberance.

8. A safety razor comprising a stem, a blade seat carried by said stem,a cover, an adjustable soap bar, an operating wheel rotatably mounted onsaid stem and projecting therefrom, a linkage extending from said wheelto said soap bar, and eccentric means for operating said linkage inresponse to rotative movements of said wheel, wherein the rim of saidWheel is formed with indentations, and wherein there is provided in saidstem a spring having a hump adapted to yieldingly fit into indentationsalined therewith.

9. A safety razor comprising a stem, a shaving head mounted thereon, ahandle member mounted for longitudinal sliding movement on said stemtoward and away from said head between positions wherein said stem andsaid handle member provide a variable-length handle for the razor, andmeans Within said handle member for retaining the handle member indilierent longitudinal positions on said stem, said retaining meanscomprising a longitudinally-arranged series of notches in one of saidrelatively slidable members and a longitudinally extending leaf springsecured to the other of said members and urged by its own resiliencytoward the line of said notches and having a bend engageable in saidnotches and having a sloping contact with a notch at both sides thereofwhereby said bend will engage various of said notches upon relativesliding movement of said members and can be disengaged from various ofsaid notches when sufiicient relative longitudinal force is applied tosaid members to overcome the resilient urge of said spring.

10. A razor as in claim 9 wherein said leaf-spring extendslongitudinally of said handle member and has a portion extendinglaterally in the bottom of said handle beneath the end of said stem, andwherein said handle is formed of solidified plastic and saidlaterally-extending portion of said leaf spring has a bent-up cornerengaging the interior of said handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,175,780 Roth Mar. 28, 1916 2,008,590 Ohmer July 16, 1935 2,090,968Testi Aug. 24, 1937 2,125,135 Trippe July 26, 1938 2,243,348 Laxo May27, 1941 2,325,751 Dillon Aug. 3, 1943 2,753,627 Isrofl' et al. July 10,1956 2,844,870 Roces et a1 July 29, 1958 2,848,807 Shnitzler et al. Aug.26, 1958 2,911,712 Choclin et al. Nov. 10, 1959 2,911,714 Preis et al.Nov. 10, 1959 2,934,821 Bailey et al. May 3, 1960 2,952,911 Shnitzler eta1 Sept. 20, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,042,426 Germany Oct. 30, 19581,058,876 Germany June 4, 1959

1. A SAFETY RAZOR FOR SINGLE-EDGE BLADES COMPRISING A STEM, A BLADE SEATCARRIED ON SAID STEM, A COVER SWINGABLY MOUNTED ON SAID STEM BETWEENOPEN AND CLOSED POSITIONS AND HAVING A DEPENDENT PORTION AT THE REARTHEREOF, RESILIENT MEANS URGING SAID COVER INTO OPEN POSITION, AND ALEVER PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID STEM AND FORMED WITH A REARWARDLY ANDDOWNWARDLY EXTENDING CAM SURFACE ENGAGING SAID DEPENDENT PORTION TO HOLDSAID COVER CLOSED WHEN SAID SURFACE IS IN A REARWARD POSITION ANDMOVABLE TO A FORWARD POSITION OUT OF THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF SAIDDEPENDENT PORTION UNDER THE OPENING ACTION OF SAID RESILIENT MEANS ANDCAMMINGLY ENGAGING SAID DEPENDENT PORTION WHEN MOVED REARWARDLY FORMOVING SAID COVER INTO CLOSED POSITION.